“I don’t even know if I can quantify the value he was brought to the program and the school,” Harmeling said. “I joked with him in the locker room that I’ll figure out how many career points he has when I have about six hours of down time, but I know he’s pushing 2,000 points.”
The Knights were somber as they exited the SunDome court Saturday. One day earlier, they hung with defending champion King’s for a while before shooting 4 for 30 from the field in the second half.
Saturday, the Knights shot 26.3 percent (15 for 57) against a Kalama team it had beaten three times this season. When the fourth quarter began, the Knights trailed 37-23.
Hunter Esary had 15 points and 11 rebounds to lead Kalama (17-9).
“Honestly if we played that game again, I don’t know if we’d do anything different,” Harmeling said. “We got a lot of really good looks. For whatever reason, the last two games of basketball we didn’t make nearly the normal percentage we’d make.”
“It will be nice in college when he’s not triple-teamed and we can see what he can do,” Harmeling said.
But Walter’s presence will be felt at King’s Way long after this year’s senior class has left.
“He’s a living legend at King’s Way and he’ll hold some records for a while,” Harmeling said. “He has given young players at King’s Way someone to look up to and say ‘I want to be like that and have that type of work ethic.’”
KALAMA 56, KING’S WAY CHRISTIAN 41
KALAMA (17-9) – Blake Stemkoski 5, Isaac Truesdell 8, Austin Dines 10, Spencer Stone 6, Hunter Esary 15, Jonas Vanskike 0, A.J. O’Neil 0, Cameron Walker 0, Victor Leatzow 5, Daniel Gerega 7, Casey Sweet 0. Totals 18 (7) 13-25 56.
KING’S WAY (21-6) – Skyler Freeman 9, Karter Graves 2, Joe Mills 3, Kienan Walter 21, Preston Danberg 2, Nick Puicella 0, Kafentse Cason 0, Judah Smith 0, Darion Lycksell 0, Kyle Gonzales 4, Kahlfani Cason 0, Tony Huser 0. Totals 15 (7) 4-12 41.
Kalama 9 13 15 19 — 56
King’s Way 12 5 6 18 — 41
